RS Sailing is it!

This was the second edition of North America's multi-class RS Sailing event, held over three days at the Coconut Grove Sailing Club in Miami to celebrate the RS Sailing fleets. All boats and equipment were conveniently stored in Regatta Park.

The racing took place from Friday, March 28th, to Sunday, March 30th! Participants from the RS Aero, RS Tera, RS Feva, and RS21 classes joined the new RS Open Class for an exciting long weekend of competition. True to RS Sailing tradition, the onshore socials provided just as much enjoyment as the racing on the water.

Team Paradise had one sailor, TJ Lopez, competing in the six-boat RS Tera fleet. It was TJ’s first-ever sailboat race. He practiced on Saturday in our RS Feva, and as soon as the charter boats became available in Regatta Park, we each sailed on a single-handed RS Tera for a couple of days. A clinic was scheduled on Thursday. I assisted in the action from our coach boat. Sailing-wise, this was probably the best day! It was nice and windy, and we had blue skies. By the time Friday rolled around, the wind had picked up a lot, forcing us to stay inside and limit our activities to boat-handling practice inside Dinner Key Marina. Saturday was too windy for the RS Feva and RS Tera. The Race Committee set up a course inside spoil island D, between the Brennan and Dinner Key Channels. We were lucky to get away with it, because there was hardly any boat traffic due to the inclement weather. Nice going, Race Committee. You pulled it off! Finally, on Sunday, we made it back out into the Bay for a few windward-leeward races, finishing upwind at the RC boat start/finish line.

TJ leaped forward in his sailing career. He improved each day, showed grit and stamina to finish in fifth place out of six boats. His best finish came in the final race, finishing in third. I can’t wait to see him in action during our Saturday sailing program. He will be miles ahead of where he was!

Bringing home two new RS Teras

We are stoked about the latest addition to our fleet inventory. We bought two of the RS Tera charter boats. They were brand new at the beginning of this event. The RS Tera will complement our RS Venture and RS Feva significantly. Some of the features work perfectly for us. When done sailing, or when hanging out at the sandbar, wrap the sail around the mast, and it could sit there all day. If the wind picks up more than desired, leave a few wraps before hooking up the outhaul and sailing back to port. If you like, take the shortcut; the Tera draft is only 0.8m. How about that?